At around 13:40 (edit: substantive discussion doesn’t begin till 20:30) in this video, the Springfield, Missouri City Council discusses the proposed marijuana decriminalization ballot initiative that they now must approve at the City Council meeting on Tuesday or send to the voters in the November general election. Leave a comment if you notice any incorrect information about marijuana and the drug war. it would be much appreciated.

11 Responses to “Count the Errors: The Springfield, Missouri City Council Talks About Marijuana Decriminalization”

It’s too bad that they let the PD and prosecutors have basically unlimited time to discuss their preference for the laws they enforce, and no one had the cajones to stand up and ask why the hell they are being listened to at all.

Police and prosecutors’ jobs are to enforce the laws passed by the voters and their representatives, and as such they should be told “thanks but your opinion is irrelevant. You do what you’re told.”

At 50:08, Alaska was mentioned as having decriminalized marijuana and then re-criminalizing it in the 90’s when use among teens doubled. It would appear that it is currently legal in Alaska (meaning no penalty or prosecution) to possess less than one ounce of marijuana or to have less than 25 plants growing in one’s home. The Alaska Supreme court ruled it falls under the “right to privacy” in the Alaska constitution.

He then mentions Holland having decriminalized marijuana and then their heroin charges tripled. As near as I can tell, marijuana is and has been illegal in the Netherlands. It’s use is tolerated in heavy regulated coffee shops where sales of less than 5 grams are also tolerated – still technically illegal. If there was an increase in heroin use, it may have had something to do with providing safe rooms for people to go and shoot up — also makes them easier to count.

The part I have the real problem with is when the police chief says marijuana is a Schedule 1 narcotic with no medicinal value. How many states have to approve it for medicinal use before it is reclassified by the FDA?

A bit of perspective is required here, and I am sure that Mr. Thampy could back me up here being a fellow Missourian. Springfield, MO has Missouri State University, but it also houses the national headquarters for the “Assemblies of God” church. The city the buckle of the f-ing bible belt.

The part I have the real problem with is when the police chief says marijuana is a Schedule 1 narcotic with no medicinal value. How many states have to approve it for medicinal use before it is reclassified by the FDA?

The FDA cannot not add or remove drugs from the federal schedule of controlled substances. Only the Congress, and the DEA can do that, because Congress delegated that agency the power to do it.

On the one hand, United States federal government officials have consistently denied that marijuana has any medical benefits. On the other, the government actually holds patents for the medical use of the plant.

Just check out US Patent 6630507 titled “Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants” which is assigned to The United States of America, as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The patent claims that –

“Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and HIV dementia.”

I’m at work so I can’t watch the video, but something in what John222 says strikes me:
“He then mentions Holland having decriminalized marijuana and then their heroin charges tripled.”
If this is accurate, that means whoever said it may not be lying, but they are tossing out a red herring. If you aren’t using law enforement resources to prosecute Marijuana offenses, then an increase in other arrests seems expected…even desirable in some cases. If rape arrests tripled, that would eb good thing.

The thing that confuses me the most is PEOPLE’S UNWILLINGNESS TO STUDY THE SCIENCE. Many of these people who speak on these issues are either lying or they are woefully ignorant. I could spend the entire evening disproving many of the things I heard in this video. I’m tired of doing that. I’m tired of presenting links to information that is based on scientific fact. Statistics that dispute most of what I heard here can be found easily by anyone who really wants to know the truth. Hemp, cannabis, marijuana; these are plants. They are not weapons. They were not created in somebody’s lab using cold medicine and ammonia or whatever the hell they do. The use of cannabis for treating a long list of health problems can be traced back 5000+ years. Not ONE recorded fatality due to cannabis consumption. Do these people not know how many citizens die from using pharmaceutical drugs? Cannabis helped me to get off of 300mg of morphine daily and I thank God for it. The propaganda must stop. There are industries who are fighting very hard to keep the drug war going. It’s their income at stake. A cancer victim is worth $300,000 to Big Pharma. If people start curing their cancer with natural herbs and nutritional supplements, this means a huge loss to them. Follow the money. Get educated, please.

Actually, I did mean the FDA. I just took a quick look at wikipedia and saw that,

“Two federal agencies, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, determine which substances are added to or removed from the various schedules”

I always thought the FDA made the list and the DEA enforced their decisions. Then I thought, why don’t I go over and look at the law itself? Section 811 of the Controlled Substances Act gives authority to the Attorney General,

Except as provided in subsections (d) and (e) of this section, the
Attorney General may by rule –
(1) add to such a schedule or transfer between such schedules
any drug or other substance if he –
(A) finds that such drug or other substance has a potential
for abuse, and
(B) makes with respect to such drug or other substance the
findings prescribed by subsection (b) of section 812 of this
title for the schedule in which such drug is to be placed; or

(2) remove any drug or other substance from the schedules if he
finds that the drug or other substance does not meet the
requirements for inclusion in any schedule.

Funny thing is, a commission was also created by this very same law specifically to make a recommendation about marijuana – they recommended decriminalization of marijuana in small amounts in their first report to Congress.